


The Empath:  The Needs of the Many or the One?

by Cheree_Cargill



Series: Glimpses of a Life [63]
Category: Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Empathy, Gen, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-08
Updated: 2018-07-08
Packaged: 2019-06-07 06:40:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15213395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cheree_Cargill/pseuds/Cheree_Cargill
Summary: Kirk, Spock and McCoy have been captured by the Vians and tortured to engender complete empathy in Gem.  Afterwards, Spock reflects on his experience with the strange, mute alien girl.





	The Empath:  The Needs of the Many or the One?

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: The Star Trek characters are the property of Paramount Studios, Inc. The story contents are the creation and property of Cheree Cargill and is copyright (c) 2018 by Cheree Cargill. This story is Rated PG.

_Stardate:_ _5123._ _2._ _First Officer Spock recording._

 

After depositing the Klingons on Verex III, we remained in orbit for two weeks as we searched for a vendor who would sell us dilithium crystals to replace the irreparably damaged ones destroyed in our wild flight to the edge of the Galaxy under the control of the energy creature. It took a while but eventually we located a Free Trader willing to take Federation credits in exchange for the proper sized crystals. Mr. Scott personally inspected and approved each crystal and had it beamed aboard under his watch. He was taking no chances here on the Rim. This was nominally Federation space, but so distant that it was virtually lawless. This outpost was controlled by the Orion Syndicate, outlaws who were notorious slavers.

The Captain forbade any shore leave here. Only those with legitimate business were allowed to beam down and then only with an armed guard. No woman was allowed to leave the ship. Granted, our female crewmembers are well trained in self-defense and combat, but the Orions are equally adept at abduction, and they trade in sex slaves. The Captain made certain that none of our crew, male or female, ended up on an Orion slave block.

After three more days, Mr. Scott had the new crystals installed and tested and at last we broke orbit and moved back toward our home territory. It was a relief when we were in hailing distance of a starbase and able to feel that we were out of harm's way … at least from attack by pirates or slavers. Even main line ships have been assailed by small, maneuverable and heavily armed renegades. We would, of course, have fought and won such an assault, but we would likely have lost crewmembers and the Captain wished to avoid that if at all possible.

We went back on patrol and received orders to travel to the Minara system to retrieve two scientists stationed on Minara II to observe the system's star. This was a white dwarf which had long been showing signs of going nova and lately it had become increasingly unstable, sending out dangerously large solar flares. It was time to extract our team.

Once there, the Captain, Dr. McCoy and I beamed down, only to be captured and tortured by a strange pair of aliens who called themselves Vians. Our two scientists, Drs. Linke and Ozaba, had already been tortured to death. The alleged purpose of this was to engender compassion in a young female alien whom Dr. McCoy inexplicably named Gem. She was mute although we had no idea if this was a genetic condition or if her people all had this trait. And we discovered that she was a functional empath, able to heal others spontaneously by taking their pain and wounds upon herself, and then generating healing within her body. I wondered if this last was similar to the Vulcan ability of _kansorn_ , the capability of repairing one's body, although Gem never went into a self-induced trance and seemed to do it spontaneously.

She was indeed an extraordinary individual, but we learned almost nothing more about her or the Vians themselves. Minara III and Minara IV were both inhabited worlds, both of them pre‑warp civilizations, with Four being a primitive non-humanoid race. The Prime Directive barred any contact with either world, something that tore at Captain Kirk's soul. There were millions of beings on these two worlds and no way to save them from the impending nova. Even if we had been able to contact them and warn them of their star's demise, it would have taken a fleet of ships months to evacuate all of them. And to where? There were no other habitable planets in this sector of space. They were all doomed and we were helpless to prevent it.

The Vians claimed that they were able to save only one planet and they were supposedly testing Gem to see if her world was the one to be spared. The entire operation makes no sense to me. Why was it necessary for one frightened child to prove herself worthy to be her planet's savior? How could she possibly be able to save her people by developing her empathic ability? Was she some type of extraordinary mutant with a super power none of her race had?

Had the Vians tested others from her planet? Had they similarly tested individuals from Minara IV? How many had they tortured to death before we happened upon the scene? And why must they choose only one world and leave the other to die in the fires of the star's death throes? The only solution I can find is that perhaps the Vians intended to move the _entire planet_ to another location, slipping it into orbit around a stable star. I find this hard to believe as a physicist, but we have encountered incredibly powerful races in our travels. Nothing, I have found, is completely impossible.

Nevertheless, the Vians seemed to have made their decision following Dr. McCoy's near death, for they took Gem and disappeared, although they demonstrated one final act of "mercy". They transported the three of us back to the research station from which we were abducted. The bodies of our two scientists were left in the underground chamber of horrors. We were unable to retrieve them due to the distance below the surface of the laboratory, which our transporters could not penetrate, and thus this would become their tomb until the planet was ultimately destroyed in the pending nova.

Upon our return to the ship, the Captain spent several hours in the ship's decompression chamber and is now back to full health. The symptoms of nitrogen bubbles in his joints, the so‑called "bends", is gone.

Dr. McCoy, however, is confined to his own sick bay, still recovering from internal injuries inflicted upon him. Currently Dr. M'Benga is Acting Chief Medical Officer with the able assistance of Lt. Chapel and her nursing staff. She informs us that McCoy is every bit as irascible and hard to handle as she expected, insisting that he is perfectly able to carry out his duties, despite physical evidence to the contrary. M'Benga has threatened to put him into a medically induced coma until he has healed, with Chapel displaying a loaded hypo for the good doctor to see, which has left McCoy grumbling but compliant.

There was one small incident while we were prisoners that has affected me. I did not believe that Gem was a sending telepath because I could detect no psi projections from her. But while Captain Kirk was stretched out on the platform bed, still suffering from decompression sickness, Gem laid her hand on my shoulder and caused me to look up at her, our eyes meeting. At that moment, we connected as if in a mind meld. There was no pseudo verbal communications between us, but only an outpouring of emotions and impressions. She detected my concern and friendship for Jim, favoring me with a soft, understanding smile.

From her, I received an impression of childlike innocence, rapidly fading as the Vians forced her to mature and face her responsibility. She was resisting it, but gradually the traits of compassion, courage, love and duty were growing in her. I believe that somehow, she will be able to save her people, perhaps as a religious leader or a miraculous healer. I sensed power she had not yet tapped and did not even realize was there within her.

Whatever her fate, I wish her well. She has a long, difficult road ahead of her.

THE END

 


End file.
